Massive Government Interest in Sony PlayStation Network Hack

Governments and government agencies across the country and the world are now seeking answers from Sony about the PlayStation Network outage and the potential loss of personal information.

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Governments and government agencies across the country and the world are now seeking answers from Sony about the PlayStation Network outage and the potential loss of personal information.

Interested parties include the Connecticut state attorney general, the FBI, government privacy officials from Australia, Canada and the U.K., and even the city of Taipei.

Sony's online network has been down since April 20, when the company took down the PlayStation Network and the related Qriocity cloud music service due to a external intrusion, or hack into the network. Sony has since been sued over the hack, accusing the company of failing to adequately protect, encrypt, and secure its customer data. The suit seeks damages for the data loss and PlayStation Network downtime.

Customers, meanwhile, have complained that their credit-card information that was given to Sony has been compromised, perhaps by a hacker group. "There have been charges at retail stores, restaurants, parking garages, and hotels in TN [Tennessee] and MD [Maryland]," Thomas O'Brien wrote in an email to PCmag.com. "There have also been charges in AZ [Arizona], but those may be online, and not a physical retail location."

Sony has contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation in San Diego, and its cybercrimes unit is investigating.

"The FBI is aware of the reports concerning the alleged intrusion into the Sony on line game server and we have been in contact with Sony concerning this matter," an FBI spokeswoman said via email. "We are presently reviewing the available information in an effort to determine the facts and circumstances concerning this alleged criminal activity. Anyone with information concerning this matter is asked to contact the FBI at (858) 565-1255 or (877) EZ-2-TELL. Cyber tips may be e mailed to IC3.gov".

Kotaku also reported that Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen had sent a letter to Sony, asking for more information about the hack and whether consumers would be compensated for the outage.

"The situation also raises questions about the effectiveness of Sony's measures to protect the confidentiality and security of private information it receives from consumers," Jepsen wrote. "I am particularly concerned that breaches of this sort do not reoccur and that affected individuals, many of which may be children, are provided sufficient protections to safeguard their information from further disclosures."

"Nor has there been any public reporting about refunds or other compensation that may be offered by Sony to compensate users for periods in which the network or services were unavailable to them," Jepsen added. "It also remains unclear whether information concerning users' rentals of movies and other programming through Netflix has been lost in this breach."

ABC.net.au also reported that the Australian privacy commissioner has launched an investigation into the hack, and whether " Sony has done everything it can to keep its customers safe". The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner was unable to be reached before business hours on Friday for comment.

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is investigating the recent Sony network breach with a view to taking action on behalf of the company's three million registered UK users, eWEEK Europe reported. And the office of Canada's privacy commissioner is also getting involved, "seeking information from Sony," Canada.com reported.

Finally, the city of Taipei, Taiwan and its Law and Regulation Commission also was said to be launching an investigation into the hack, together with possible fines. "The letter was sent on Wednesday and gives Sony 10 days to respond," IDG reported. "If it fails to reply in time, it would be fined between NT$30,000 (US$1,044) and NT$300,000 for alleged breaches of local consumer protection laws, the commission said in a statement."

Mark Hachman Mark joined ExtremeTech in 2001 as the news editor, after rival CMP/United Media decided at the time that online news did not make sense in the new millennium.
Mark stumbled into his career after discovering that writing the great American novel did not pay a monthly salary, and that his other possible career choice, physics, required a degree of mathematical prowess that he sorely lacked.
Mark talked his way into a freelance assignment at CMP’s Electronic Buyers’ News, in 1995, where he wrote the...
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